Very nice!

Even with a 67% increase IL taxes are lower than WI.

Nope. But you can only thank Walker for finally controlling some taxes here.
IL has a flat tax, WI has tables so you can't represent your statement in one sentence. Not to mention their increase in the corporate tax rate.

IL sales tax is much higher than WI, some counties are 9.5%! They have raised every toll fee and tax they can to try and fill their liberal budget deficit. It has not worked, what a surprise.

One smart idea in Illinois is tollways. It gets a lot of out-of-state contributions legally.
Only the users pay. Surely those flatlanders would pay a few extra dollars to get to all those wonderful tourist spots in Wisconsin. We pay to go almost anywhere south or take backroads.l
Other states smarter on this, Wisconsin dumber.

@Dirk -

I honestly question how smart tollways are, given that as federally designated Interstate Highways, they still receive massive contributions for maintenance and improvements from the federal government and are not wholly self sufficient. In Illinois, the administration that created the toll system promised that they would be eliminated once revenues that were collected from the tolls had covered the cost of building the system. According to reports, had that 'promise' been adhered to, the system should have been effectively de-tolled sometime back in the mid '90's, and yet, it's still with us today.

Essentially, the only thing the tollway is good for is paying government employees comfy salaries and benefits, with many IL tollway workers earning in excess of $100k per year on top of receiving cadillac health and pension benefits. Remember the toll worker who retired with a pension that was paying him a guaranteed $80k per year in retirement? No thank you - it's just more government waste that doesn't sustain itself, as Indiana learned with their toll and turnpike systems, that have since been leased to a private for profit Spanish/Australian conglomerate for the next 99 years. That's similar to what Daley did in Chicago with the public parking system and Skyway. Building America with our money only to lease it away to foreign for-profit entities - that's ridiculous!

As someone who traverses the Chicago corridor on a regular basis, Hoffa can personally attest that ever since they raised the rates on the tollways, Hoffa has been avoiding them! Now, Hoffa will take the Tri-state from the border to the Eden's Spur. Otherwise, it's the Edens - Kennedy - Ryan - Bishop-Ford - Kingery - Borman for Hoffa from now on!

@Hoffa - Your anti-Libertarian side is showing, or maybe free enterprise would inconvenience you on this one. As to tollways, make the roads private if you do not like government running the tollways. And maybe an autobahn type arrangement as to speed limits or lack thereof. Let them charge what they want. If you do not want to pay, take the secondary routes like you say you do today in Illinois now. Our nation grew with toll roads and canals, then the government stepped in and started the tax idea to pay for them. Let the enterprising businessman thrive running the major roads. If that works, maybe let the small businessman run key lesser roads. Or does that make you the slight bit nervous, maybe like it will be highway robbery?

@Dirk -

Your presumption that my little tirade is anti-libertarian is highly flawed in that public monies originally built and continue to support the presently established toll systems in both IL and IN. Libertarians, as far as I'm aware, are adamantly against public subsidies, handouts, support, etc of the private sector. The way the leases in IL and IN work are nothing but a crony capital screw job of the taxpayer on both the state and federal level.

The leased roadways in IL and IN are still receiving regular injections of public tax monies in addition to the for profit toll collections that now only go to benefit a private foreign entity- there is nothing libertarian about this! If IL and IN wanted to do it right, then they should have sold outright all interest in the affected highways to the private for profit foreign conglomerate and the federal government should have immediately terminated all federal highway funds going to maintain and improve those roadways. They should have become 100% privately funded and operated. But that's not what happened, is it?

And who was it that approved these leases - the very same Democrats that now sit over on Capitol Hill and in the White House that approved other crony capital projects such as Solyndra.

Nice try, but EPIC FAIL!

@Hoffa - Gee, I touched a raw nerve in you about tollways for Wisconsinites generating revenue legally from residents of other states, let's see if I can figure why:

Is it that you drive that big old Cadillac to Chicago a lot and that this would inconvenience and cost you more personally for those trips?

That you have some affiliation with out-of-state motorists and trucking companies that would pay Wisconsinites to use their roads, and have spread your allegiance to flatlanders and out-of-state companies?

That you would seriously consider taking a train, ever?

That you actually believe government is the best model for things like roads, and should tax for that purpose? Is that not "socialism"?

I never advocated foreign businesses running Wisconsin tollways! This is an example of you and others in the ultra-right camp of attributing bad ideas to the opposition.

Simply, let's look at people that use services paying more for them, and people using them less, paying less (in taxes). Seems fair to me, fits a TRUE Republican's model. Less government, more private ownership. What exactly is your beef with reducing taxes by having people pay their own costs?

And let's open up the tollway idea to Wisconsin entrepreneurs, who you otherwise act like you totallly support. You seem to have misgivings about them in this case.
Perhaps you have committed an EPIC breach of faith in the capitalist credo on these pages!

@Dick Gutzmiller -- I'm going to stick up for Hoffa about the tollways. Whenever we drive down to Chicago, we get off the I system at the state line and take Hwy. 41. Yes, you get stopped at a few lights, but that equals roughly the number of toll booths, and 41 is free.

A while back, Gov. Walker floated the idea of making I-94 into a toll road. I'm sorry, but the interstate system was built by taxpayer dollars and it's maintained with general taxpayer dollars and gasoline tax, so it should be for all of us to use. Especially since it's the main way from Waukesha County into Milwaukee.

@Randy1949 - Done correctly, tollways should REDUCE taxes to support highways, or allow more such crumbling infrastructure to be improved.
Sorry about Waukesha folks needing to drive to Milwaukee, and they might have to pay tolls. What about us poor souls living in Milwaukee Co. that do a lot of walking to work,/shopping, bicycling, and short hops in our economy/banger cars. Should we subsidize Waukesha commuters or those drawn to the entertainment and excitement of Milwaukee in their cars? They could easily live closer. Or, there will always be free secondary roads. There is a price to convenience that should be paid by the user. As George Bush said, we are addicted to oil. Should we frugal, hard-working people that live in our dense communities that have nearly everything closer by pay for someone else's addiction?
The point for the right-wingers is that everyone paying their own way cuts both ways.

@Dick Gutzmiller -- The interstate highway system was designed to link the nation. We all pay for it, whether we use it only occasionally or daily. Talk about economy banger cars -- I'm driving a 1995, as little as possible. I'm happy for you that you have the good fortune to live near where you work, but not everyone is so lucky. Jobs change, often at the whim of the employer, and you go where you need to.

Public roads are just that -- for everyone to use. And taxes are the most even-handed way of doing it. I'm rather surprised that Hoffa is against privatization for once, because that's the mantra of the conservative, small-government types. They'd give us coin operated turnstiles on the public sidewalks if they could.

@Dirk -

One of your arguments is having me contemplate taking a train instead of driving. But Amtrak is also a for profit enterprise that receives a boatload of taxpayer monies to fund its operation. Again, that's not very libertarian.

If a private company wanted to legally and without government assistance or support buy up all the land necessary and construct it's own privately funded and operated transportation network and then charge a price for it, then sure, I'd consider using it if by using it whatever amount of my taxes would usually go to support government sponsored transportation projects was refunded to me. I'd have to perform a cost-benefit analysis, obviously.

But here's the reality of the situation - most of the transportation network in this country today was built, paid for, and maintained by public tax dollars. Like it or not, we can't go back in time and change this reality. I'm not aware of single individual or company that has the funds necessary to purchase from the government at a true fair market value something like an interstate highway, are you? Ergo, the only way to effectively 'privatize' such a system today would result in something like we presently see with Amtrak - private profit subsidized by government covering the true economic losses of such an endeavor. That's not a solution - that's crony capitalism and a screw job for taxpayers!

You may operate in Mr. Rodger's 'Land of Make Believe,' but the rest of us operate in reality.

@Hoffa - Of course there are privately built tollways already. There is one over 12 miles long out of Dulles in N. Va. Even San Fran had its private tollway experiment.
I just do not get your point that highways cannot be sold by governments. They sell real property all the time, once supported by tax monies. That is a misconception.
And of course there are companies that could afford to buy a highway, they buy each other for billions. And if not buy, let them lease or operate the tollways.

There is a great deal of literature in the Libertarian world about private roads and how they do not use eminent domain to be built, are safer (troublemakers can be excluded), are more responsive to the customer (motorist), do not take tax money, etc.
If not private, let's go back to my original point about public tollways. Wisconsin can gather a lot of out of state monies and lower taxes with tollways. Anyone going to Minnesota and states west from there are going to most efficiently pass through Wisconsin. Most of Upper Michigan and even Canada (ever see those Canadian semis on the interstates?) also have paths through our state. And all those flatlander tourists!
Maybe you are admitting government has some natural monopoly on certain industries like transportation infrastructure.
Or maybe you prefer some aspects of "socialism", like "free" roads for all, including "free riders" that pay little in taxes.

@Dirk -

The Dulles Greenway is an interesting experiment indeed, but did receive some government hand-holding in its early days. When the original owners defaulted on their loans in the first year of operation, the state of VA had to step in and guarantee the restructuring loan to the tune of $150M and provide a $312M contingent fund until such time that the restructured company was eventually bought out by it's present owners, Australian firm Macquarie Infrastructure Group, in 2005. A true libertarian would have said that the road should have been allowed to go bankrupt and auctioned off to the highest bidder in order to satisfy the outstanding debt obligations. Instead, the original investors' capital in the project was protected and shielded by the loan guarantee and contingent fund from the state of VA. Hardly a stellar private sector success story!

But if private investors want to try, the more power to 'em - just keep the government completely out of the picture and no taxpayer funded bailouts!

I'd have no problem with a state operated toll road, but again, would it really save us any money as taxpayers? I'd need to see a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis and actual reports from the systems in IL and IN before I could commit to a position on such a recommendation. In IL for example, for the longest time, the tolls were barely generating enough revenue to cover the costs associated with tollway employees, yet alone provide any funding for actual maintenance and improvements to the system. As is all too often the case, whenever government creates a new bureaucracy, it finds a way to just barely cover the costs of its own existence while filtering very little down to the people it's suppose to actually serve.

@Hoffa - But the point about private ownership of roads is that they do exist, and would be one acceptable way to lower taxes for those right-wing individuals that do not want the government running tollroads, so that is why I offer the idea.

As we all know, nearly every business receives breaks from the government, whether in the incubator, startup phase, to enticing tax deals to get a business to stay or move, to mega-corporations like oil companies. Your insistence on avoiding any government assistance for a private tollway before you would consider driving on it is disingenuous. Name a company of any size today that does not elicit, lobby for, or take advantage of some government gimme. And you realize of course you now drive on private roadways all the time, whether at the mall, the country club, or inside a gated community.

But frankly, I am not a good spokesman for Libertarians, but believe there are some common links with the left possible. The political spectrum is actually a loop in some cases, and the far ends can meet. It would be refreshing to hear, on these pages, a true Libertarian refreshing voice now and then on such issues, instead of the usual crusty, ill-tempered curmudgeons full of resentment and stubborn notions about how one side is totally bad, and the other side infinitely good, but not looking at possibilities where we could actually agree..

@Hoffa - If I could get you to agree to private toll roads, either built from scratch, or more likely, existing ones competitively purchased or leased, or even just operating license granted at fair market from the government, without any more than the usual government subsidies, tax breaks, etc. extended as to other businesses (Repubs do this at least as much as Dems, as you know), we could agree. I would concede not having a government run tollway.
Tollway users then pay their own way, not subsidized by non- or infrequent users.. I think that is a Republican ideal. Taxes are lowered, as the purchase or lease or operating license income is targeted to reducing highway taxes, and that would need to be guaranteed by adequate legislative safeguards. It could even work like a casino operates today, where the government takes a cut, and that could reduce the initial high costs of entry for the business. Private industry exerts its usual bottom line pressures on costs while trying to maintain customer loyalty. Frugal and other non-users would not subsidize the luxury of limited access, high speed travel when other reasonable alternatives are available.

Is the WESEAL ever in the state ?

Are you serious?? "...have new young teachers who are looking to teach and not fill their bank accounts". What do you think they are going to do? Live at home, receive food stamps, never have a family? How are they suppose to as Republicans propose save money for retirement, healthcare, pay their continuing education credits to maintain their licenses, cover the classroom materials that are needed since cuts to education have reduced materials/supplies, and still be expected to help stimulate the local economy by visiting restaurants, buy homes/cars or other goods. What kind of la-la land are you living in? Are you really that stupid or just another typical blow-hole who likes to hear themselves talk, but really has nothing of value to contribute. Since I volunteer in my son's classroom I see first hand his teacher tirelessly work to help the kids, eager to advise/consult with me or any other parent when asked, and prepare lessons that help the kids in their academic learning. She is NOT a young teacher, but a seasoned vet who has dedicated her life to teaching and is fun, yet firm. Your ignorance is both infuriating and yet typical to the breed of irrationality that seems to be running deep within the Republican party these days. FYI: As a woman, there IS a War on Women. When I am told my value as an employee is not equal to that of a man because your fragile egos need that money validation, that is insulting & very anti-American. More Taliban if anything!

Without paying those teachers,where do you think you're going to get them?

No, I disagree. The reason there are so many people out protesting Mr. Walker is because people feel so strongly about Mr. Walker and Mr. Koch. IF Walker was to prevail a piece of America dies. We can't let that happen. If one of the many Mitts (my favorite is Cheesy Grits Mitt), were to prevail, it will take this country another 8 years to recover from the debacle of 2000-2008. Mr. Walker is exactly what is wrong with America.

The protest in Troy, Mi was after work hours. Fact check before you sling information.

I thought the Right Wing talking point was that all of the anti-Walker protesters were hired from out of state. So, they wouldn't have had to take time off during work-day hours. By the way, isn't Walker's place of employment here in Wisconsin? What was he doing in Illinois and Michigan on our time? I recall there being an uproar from the Right over some Democratic senators spending time in Illinois last year.

@Greta Gubbins -

I would think that a truly dedicated professional educator would have something better to do during the school year than protest an out-of-state public official, like preparing a lesson plan, correcting papers, coming up with a new more effective teaching method, meeting with the parents of troubled students, etc. Especially considering that they receive nearly four months of paid vacation a year.

Try again!
.

@ J hoffa,
you sure like to pick on the teachers, what teachers in your life hade the biggest impact? and why? what did they do to help you? would you like to tell them now that they are just hanging around waiting to retire on the big bucks they made. to bad you want to pay teachers minimum wage so we get teachers that work at McDs and cant make change for a dollar. god forbid someone would want to make a decent wage to live on and to live off of in their retirement. you have such anger with unions and not the CEO of oil companys, or the koch bothers for making millions off of us, or the big banks which got us into this big mess and made millions in record profits and salaries. forgwet them lets take it out on the teachers who are trying to teach kids that rather do other things than be in school. with parents who dont want to parent and pass it on to the schools, then complain the minute a teacher stands up to a kid direspecting them or causing a problem in class then you want their hands tied. the USA can always get the jobs back from china all we have to do is make .25 an hour and owe everything to companys like we did in the late 1800's. sound good to you?

@JamesRHoffa: Normally I would ignore your blatant misinformation, but I am SICK of it already. Teachers are paid for 9 mths of the year, the 3 mths off in the summer is unemployment of which they are ineligible to collect. However that is the time they need to take University credits to maintain their licenses. Your ignorant comment questioning the dedication and time management of the teacher speaks volumes to you as an individual and as an American that truly values the freedoms of this country. She has EVERY right to protest and stand up for her rights and for those in her profession in another state. If I were a Teacher I would have protested to make my displeasure known about how my profession is being crucified and forgone sleep that night to take care of my lesson plans. How dare you question her motives or work ethic. Shame on you!

Mr. Hoffa,
So you think that I cannot manage an hour of exercise after school is out while maintaining excellence? You are welcome to come into my classroom anytime and watch me teach students, integrate technology, motivate students, check my lesson plans and how they match the Common Core State Standards, read the reports I write for grant committees, and check my weekly data that shows the progress each student in my class has made.
More importantly, I am excercising my constitutional rights and setting an example to stand up and peaceful express my opinion.
Your value judgement of my use of time offers an insight to your character.

The event in Michigan was in the evening, The fund raiser started at 5:30 pm.

hoffa still spreading his lies. must suck to be angry all the time.

@Keith -

No one is forcing you to patronize the big oil companies or big banks, are they? But my tax dollars do go to fund public education whether I want them to or not, correct? Ergo, I demand both efficiency and effectiveness from the way in which my tax dollars are spent, as every taxpaying American rightfully should! And results like those seen from RUSD don't exactly meet either standard, do they?

And Hoffa doesn't just single out teachers, by-the-way. Anyone on the public dole should expect to earn less when revenue collections are down. In case you haven't heard, we're in an economic recession. Even Obama has admitted that these are the worst times since the Great Depression. That means that people are earning less money and property values are down. When this occurs, tax revenues shrink. Instead of raising taxes on people who are already hurting, shouldn't the government have to work with less? Naturally, that would mean anyone who earns a living on the taxpayer's dime would have to take a pay cut. It just makes sense.

But no. You'd rather raise taxes and hurt those that are already hurting even more just so the government worker maintains their pre-recession salary and benefits. SHAME on you!

@Greta -

Here is what the teacher protestor was advocating according to the article:

"When you strip away collective bargaining rights, you're taking away things like class size, calendar, working conditions – other things besides wages and benefits."

Why should unions determine "class size, calendar, working conditions," shouldn't these things be determined upon their overall efficiency and effectiveness? Jaime Escalante was able to get the worst of the worst kind of student to achieve well above and beyond anyone's expectations while voluntarily taking on larger class sizes, extended hours, and the worst working conditions imaginable. How? Teacher's unions say smaller class sizes are the answer, but Escalante said that the size of the class is immaterial. In fact, if you read Escalante's book, you'll see how the unions were adamantly opposed to his methods and practices and how they threatened him and stood in his way until he couldn't take it anymore. Joe Louis Clark, Michelle Rhee, our nation's very best educators that achieved the most remarkable results have all said the same thing: that the unions don't have the best interests of our children in mind - only the continual perpetuation of our flawed system.

It also doesn't help your side very much that WEAC's own data has confirmed that our public school's have become more effective and efficient under Walker's reforms, does it?

You'll note that Hoffa advocates the same for the entire public sector.

@Kate Kind -

You're forgetting about the week or two that they get around the Christmas holiday, the week they get in the spring time, the other paid holidays, etc. Not to mention that they also get the weekends during the school year off as well, and seeing as how they are salaried, well, let's just call that paid time off as well, shall we? And then they get an unusual number of paid sick days, personal days, leave days, etc. And some even get paid time to go on sabbatical, run for political office as in the case of John Lehman-D, etc. And yet, you still want to justify maintaining all this, despite the FACT that they are public servants and that the public that pays for all this is suffering through what even Obama has called "the worst economy since the Great Depression." Wow!

As to the rest of your emotional rant, see my response to Greta above! It's also very telling that you buy into the whole 'War Against Women' and 'Class Warfare' propaganda and rhetoric of the far left - please spare us or come up with some original thoughts/material, as we've all heard the talking points many times already.

Epic fail! Try again.

I'm thinking after Walker prevails in the recall election, we need to seriously ponder changing the motto on our license plates from "America's Dairyland" to "The Land of Walker!"

Hmmm, I figure the opposite. This is about people viewing their right being violated by a private citien in the form of Mr. Koch having a say so in the runnings of Wisconsin. Mr. Walker is merely collateral damage. Enjoy the recall and the election of 2012. Looking forward to getting back to the job of repairing the country.

Can't wait to drive past this cheese guy in our new license plates Hoffa. It's all going to be like
Hoffa: vrroooom deep Cadillac roar
Cheese : But but, Koch, alec, disenfranchisement, minority, solidarity, bargaining rights, shame, no mine, illegal, it's for the kids.

Whenever I drive down to or through Illinois, I always make sure to either gas up in Wisconsin first or drive on fumes trying to make it back to a Wisconsin gas station, as I'd rather see Walker get the state gas tax money than Quinn!

Cheese - Koch much? What is it with Koch? Ever heard of Soros?

I drive a delivery truck that ships anything. Over the past year I have done a lot of business with the two major Printing companies (Donnely and Quad). They have bought out the smaller printers and shut them down or downsized them. Where do I come in? I've been moving their equipment to facilities in Illinois where they are hiring.

Did you read the article?
According to the department, Illinois has added 130,700 private sector jobs since January 2010.

The chart in the link above shows that Wisconsin is still spending more than our neighboring states. I guess those Illinois unions are protesting Walker spending so much on unions.

Not exactly the sharpest tools in the shed.

You're right. Lincoln was never asked to come to Springfield to explain how they could solve their problems.

@bob mcbride you rep. are funny you bitch about the recall of walker but you wanted to recall the dems for their ploy in trying to hold up the budget last year. then you claim its all about big union bosses from out of state. and walker has been campaigning in NY,IL, MI, and more, druming up money for his campaign. talk about out of state money from big corporation bosses. but thats ok right?

Keith, I didn't support those recalls either. I'm consistent in that regard

As for Walker traveling out of state, you guys created Walker's image as the key Republican governor standing up against a union-driven Democratic attempt to undo the 2010 elections anyway they can, and now you complain about it when the Republicans use that to attempt to shore up their defenses. You expect everyone to just bend over and take your temper tantrum and then thank you for the opportunity of doing so. Time to come back down to earth, Moonbeam

Well said, Jason. Thank you.

Jason- That is how ill-informed you are. 40 hour work weeks were not pu in place by unions, neither was the weekends off, nor was time and a half. All were put in place before the existence of unions. And we are not talking about corporations, we are talking about public sector workers who wield more political power than any corporation, alone or collectively, can. And since when is a teacher considered a laborer. They should be considered professionals, and not union thugs, yet that's how they want to be treated.

And I think one has to look at the behaviour of the other union groups to figure out why he hasn't touched them.

@Jason... The 40 hour work week and time and a half for work in excess of 40 hours are a creation of, and regulated by a federal law known as the Fair Labor Standards Act(1938).

Thank god for the union, I am now allowed bathroom breaks at work!
Before the union came in I had to piss down my leg and crap in my pants. It was horrible.
Unions are people... corporations are Aliens or robots or monkeys or something.

I am sure that the Koch brothers and Walker would have been all for that 40 hour work week and a minimum wage and all that which the Fair Labor Standards Act put in place. Just like all of the Republicans have been and were champions for the other New Deal programs that were put in place during the depression.

This quote here sums it all up for me:
"My concern is that people won't go into teaching because they can't support their families. When the quality of teachers go down, the kids suffer."

When a teacher can't make a living to support their own families, they wont teach...who do you plan on getting to teach kids for an un-sustainable living?

If I was graduating high school and moving on to college and saw that going to college for a teaching degree would put me in debt some 50K and pay me 25K a year, I would go a different route.

The question is: How valuable are teachers to our society? Should they be forced to live in poverty to teach the future of our country? Is this some sort of service they should do for us? Work hard through school, incur debt, continuing education and training to make less money than in the private sector?

I do like how the Walker lovers are trying to say that Unions had nothing to do with the 40 hour work week, minimum wages or overtime rules...I am sure it was the Koch brothers and ALEC who introduced that legislation back in the New Deal era...

Dave- you are so out of touch. In Racine, the lowest paid teacher receives a starting pay of $40,000 + $25,000 benefits, 14 weeks vacation, a 37.5 hr work week, paid holidays, paid sick days and sick leave, and on the top end, the highest paid teacher makes $89,000 + $25,000 benefits with all the other perks, and the median is $55,000 + $25,000 etc...

That is hardly poverty. And apparently, many in college think that is just fine as there is no shortage of teachers coming out of college. Just because you go into teaching doesn't entitle you 100% paid benefits, and tenure has been the biggest joke because you can almost never get rid of a bad teacher.

It is a joke that liberals and progressives think that the taxpayer is an endless revenue source. And remember, when you say tax the rich, it's all about capital gains, which at some point in everybody's life will affect them so be careful what you wish for. If you have a 401K, you'll be hit. Own a home? Yes, you too. Any stocks or bonds? Yep! Getting an inheritance? Yep!!

And I'm sure it's those quality teachers that marched in Racine for the "Student Bill of Rights" with the union's fingerprints all over it.

@dave... I share your concerns in attracting quality teachers. I continue to search for evidence that the changes Walker has enacted will cause a decline in our k-12 educational system. However, I don't expect a one time reset/reversal in compensation levels(about 4% after tax net effect for pension/healthcare contributions) to be the 'end of k-12 education as we know it'.

To date, all I can find is hyperbole and conflation. You know, like ..... ' ...Walker has influence on the Federal Labor Standards Act...' ,or, '....if the union goes away, the 40 hour work week and time and a half does too....' Sorry, but I just don't find 'the sky is falling' to be a compelling argument.

Out of touch...one of the favorite things to say from you Koch/Walker lovers...so lets see what is really going on, shall we?

As documented at http://www.racine.k12.wi.us/?do=dept.content&pageID=21

Starting Salary with a Bachelors degree: $39,150.00 Highest Paid with PHD, Masters, etc...: $70,044

37.5 hours per week? Is that actually at school? Do you include extra curriculars like Band O Rama, Musicals, Dances, Fund Raisers? Does this further include paper grading, lesson planning and other preperations?

$25,000 in benefits? Does this include the $4,000 out of pocket deductable? Can you give me some documented proof that this is the total of all benefits?

Will the continued erosion of quality pay and public sector bashing have an effect on teachers coming out of college? Well we might not know that for a while just like we will not know what kind of effect Koch/WalkerALEC will have in Wisconsin.

I think you, Brian Dey, the one who was TROUNCED by the electorate a couple of weeks ago, is the one who is out of touch. Teachers should be respected and taken care of as they are the ones who are prepping our children to one day take control of this country.

I understand that if we are all taught to the level that Walker/Koch/ALEC would like us to be, we would not be able to question nonsense like the stuff you post, but I am glad that my teachers at RUSD afforded me the smarts to find out about your mis-infomation.

Sorry Dayve, you are wrong. With a bonus received by the top step and extra pay , the highest teach was paid over $89,000 last year. Look on the DPI site.

And yes, the contract calls for a 37.5 hour work week , with only 34.5 hrs per week in front of the class as the contract calls for 3 hrs prep time per week in school, so I was actually being generous. If you are coaching you are paid above your regular salary, and don't even give me the nonsense of the other things you list. they are salaried employees and are expected, just like the rest of the world , to do things beyond their regularly scheduled work week.

As far as the benefits, yes, that is what it still costs the taxpayer who funds 97.5% of your health insurance and still funds 94.4% of your pension. Again, do your own research on the DPI website.

As far as the election, for only spending $1,300 compared to the over $40,000 put into the campaign by the unions and Racinians for Progress, pulling 8,000 votes wasn't bad, especially with the unions campaigning in the school buildings.

The quality of education isn't reliant on elitist benefits and great salaries. In the real world, this would be considered a seasonal employment job so yes, they are paid very well, and I have never met a starving teacher.

As far as respect; that is something earned, and because of the union mentality and strong arm tactics, the black-eye was self inflicted.

Tell me more about the taxpayer...I sure wish I was a teacher, and would not have to pay taxes...man it sure must be nice.

I wonder what would happen if Walker and ALEC would write and introduce legislation to make it a "part time" job as you would like? Bring wages and benefits down to wages more in line with say a part time job at Wall Mart or McDonalds...

Do you think people would be lining up to get a PHD or Masters degree for a part time job without any benefits like at Walmart? I wonder if the PHD teacher would then qualify for state aid like so many of the Walmart employees do? Would you attack them for that as well? Have you attacked ALEC/Walmart for milking the TAXPAYER for benefits that they should be taking care of with their employees? Did you know that the TAXPAYER is lining the billionaire Walton family pockets with TAXPAYER money by providing benefits that the Walton's will not extend to their employees?

I think it is way more benficial to the TAXPAYER that the Walton's stay in the top 10 of richest people in the world rather than having the TAXPAYER pay for teachers.

Why would anyone in their right mind want to get a PHD to make themselves better at their profession and get paid far less than any other PHD in the ountry?

Dave: Did you know that you can have your college debt forgiven if you become a teacher? That's right, the entire loan is erased...Now you know why other parents pay 8% for a federal student loan, to subsidize teaching.

Dave - are you really Bren? Too much Koch and ALEC.

So the union thugs will support him. Remeber wisconsin is the largest police state per capiat in the world because of walkers truth in sentencing laws. Wisconsin because of walker has more people in jail per capita than anywhere in the world.

Jay, let's remember the order of events before the enactment of law. At its convention in Chicago in 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions resolved that "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labour from and after May 1, 1886, and that we recommend to labour organizations throughout this jurisdiction that they so direct their laws as to conform to this resolution by the time named

And if you don't believe this, just look at what ACT 10 did. It make the union teacher pay more, but no skin off the administration, superintendents, principals, etc. who are also paid by public money. There may be cuts and huge deficit of funds for schools but there is always money left for the non union worker to get raises. And now they are still talking about more money needed even after teachers took their cuts, they want to cut more.

btw, I am not a teacher or union worker.

►And if you don't believe this◄
no one believes what you are saying.

why?

You are trying to rationalize controlling the massive spending of public unions and somehow relating that to some evil business owner making more off his private union employees.

You are warped! I have never seen Scott Walker on a rampage. He is calm cool and
collected every time I hear him. If Scott Walker loses this election you will get whiplash watching all the businesses leaving for right to work states. You cant make money when the unions save the jobs of incompetent people. China is thanking us for our unions. Your so worried about yourself that you dont see how this affects the country. Sad.

Menoparent: Why don't you go to School Board meetings and voice your concern? Demand them liberal board members change Administration's benefits too.

Yes, the anti-union sentiment blossomed in early February thanks to Scott Walker's "dropping the bomb" on public employee unions (except the badge unions, some of which had endorsed him) and simultaneously launched multimedia anti-union blitz funded by the super PAC Americans for Prosperity and its primary funder, the Koch brothers.

Beagleowner, you'll have to decide which is more important, family sustaining wages for Americans or even greater profits for Big Business. Surely there is balance.

China is having its own labor problems. Google "FoxConn." This is an extreme example of employee exploitation. The Taiwanese company pays $.31/hour. Employees work 24 hour+ shifts. They have to live in dorms with strangers. Some break down. The factory has installed nets around the facility to try to catch the employees who hurl themselves from the roof in despair.

Capitalism is good, but it should have a human face. And if people have no money to spend, more businesses and industries will wither away. There has to be balance.

Craig, I have voiced my self to the board forum before the last election and they wouldn't hear of it. They said that administration deserves every penny they get and that they shouldn't take any cuts, but Tadda said he would be willing to look into it if elected.

Menoparent: Craig stands with you on that issue. Tadda is only one man among a board of puppets, it will take public pressure for anything good to happen.
I know of many good businesses who had to take cuts a few years back. It was a shared sacrafice from the top down.
The poorly run businesses will claim a cut in pay on the top dogs is insignificant to the bottom line. They usually do not weather the storm anyway because they do not have the option of passing the costs to the taxpayer like the school board does.

Jerry:
Learn how to spell before you start blogging your lefty propaganda! Maybe you had those teachers in school that spent more time petitioning for bigger benefits than teaching their students.

Truth in sentencing? Wasn't that enacted before Walker was governor?

Uncle D- did Jerry's missed spelled words change the meanning of his post?
BTW..Was it a teacher that you how to spell?

Scott Walker was going to be the poster boy for the new conservative order in the US. I think he truly believed the Governor's mansion was a steppingstone to Washington. But I think the powers that backed him picked the wrong state.

Wisconsin is the birthplace of Progressivism and -- I don't know -- just the general value of treating your fellow citizens decently. Cutting things like Medicaid and the EIC just to pay for tax incentives to businesses is not decent.

Wisconsin is also the birthplace of the Republican Party, but I doubt that Abraham Lincoln, who was born in rural near-poverty, would appreciate those cuts to programs that help the most vulnerable in our state. I imagine that Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, both staunch champions for protecting our natural resources, would have had some choice words for that egregious mining bill.

@Randy1949 -

Even Politifact has confirmed that Walker added money to the state Medicaid contribution, so where exactly are you getting this one from? Also, the EIC was only cut for those at the top of the qualifying income bracket for eligibility, which are people earning more than the federal poverty standard - not quite the attack on the poor that your side tries to make it out to be, is it?

I think that reading Nichols' book has warped your ability to separate fact from propaganda.

@JRH -- Here: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9QU3CRO1.htm

People making 150% of the poverty limit are in worse straits than businesses for whom the cuts were to provide tax incentives.

@Randy1949 -

If we don't offer the same kind of tax cuts for businesses that other states are, then what family wage sustaining businesses/employers (such as manufacturing) would even consider either moving to or starting up in Wisconsin? Especially when one stops to consider that Wisconsin is already one of the most heavily taxed states in the country.

Don't hate the player - hate the game!

An individual worker is powerless against downward pay pressures and being let go on the employer's bottom-line whim. It's either accede or have no job at all. Or in the case of the higher-paid older worker, have no job, period.

That's how it is in the private sector, and Walker's ilk would really like to see everyone in that situation, because the contrast causes resentment.

But if you feel yourself to be among the upper class for which 'business-friendly' will be to your benefit, then Walker's your man.

I agree. It allows the unions the 'right' to take your money or... I was a state worker who had the option to join or not. I did not chose to join and worked in a GREAT environment, enjoyed same COLAs as those who 'sent their bucks to the AFSCME' and felt secure in knowing my job was solid. It held true until I retired and remains the same for state workers today.
The BIGGEST non-ethically based group is the one screaming recall. They are STEALING money from this state to 'try to get their way'. A legal election in 2008 isn't good enough for them. They have set about creating a State of Chaos. I can't wait to take my spending power, taxes and other contributions (in-kind) and leave!!!!!

I support employees everywhere. If the state wasn't offering a fair wage and good working conditions, the state wouldn't be able to attract the workers it needs and would have to make necessary changes. What I am against, is a group, paid in part by me, with the power to walk off the job and hold my services hostage and cost me even more money to clean up the mess. Do you really think in this day and age they would have to resort to such measures, which by the way, they can actually do in numbers anytime they want, union or no union? I look forward to a time when ALL workers enjoy the same benefits as those fortunate enough to have a union or works for the local, state and federal government.

Stop making things up Randy. The only one that is powerless with collective bargaining is the taxpayer.

@Sinead - You seem to be immune to the fact that the union you did not choose to join helped foster the "GREAT environment" you got to live in. And the COLAs, and probably a pension, etc. Then you are going to pick up and get out of the state, bcause it is so chaotic now.
For someone like you, without an epiphany of insight into your own character, then
bye, bye. We will manage without your dollars earned on the backs of the union contributors.

Pamela, the recall issue is about far more than collective bargaining rights although that is part of the conversation. It is about whether we want our state to remain under the thrall of special interest group ALEC, now so radicalized that some of its biggest donors (Coca Cola, Pepsi, McDonalds, Wendy's, Intuit, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Kraft) have backed off in consternation. The Koch Brothers/Koch Industries are a primary ALEC donor, and opened a new lobbying office across the street from the Capitol right after Scott Walker's election. ALEC reps were priming Walker for union stripping even before his inauguration. He never intended to honor his campaign promise to negotiate with public sector unions. Union stripping is a big component of the ALEC agenda, and they write the legislation for their puppet governors in other states too (but in Ohio, state law allowed Ohioans to roll their union stripping law back by petition). ALEC is all about writing legislation that helps Big Business become even bigger, at whatever cost. Hence all of the voter ID bills to defund the Democratic Party. ALEC also writes bills for the NRA, so we can thank ALEC for the Stand Your Ground law in Florida that Trayvon Martin's murderer will probably use for his defense, and the castle doctrine law that might protect the man who shot 20 year old Bo Morrison who was hiding on his porch. Bo ran and hid from a police raid on the underage drinking party he attended.

Why I support recall.

@Steve -- Collective bargaining is two sides sitting down and working out a deal. How very un-American!

Stop licking the hand that you think is going to feed you.

Wow, Sinead, who's the freeloader here? Enjoy the pay level and the benefits without contributing to the negotiations that earned them.

"The BIGGEST non-ethically based group is the one screaming recall. They are STEALING money from this state to 'try to get their way'. A legal election in 2008 isn't good enough for them. They have set about creating a State of Chaos."

At least I know that the election was in 2010.

What's with the 'pending approval'? My comments posted immediately yesterday.

►about far more than collective bargaining rights◄

HA! Since ACT 10 is a resounding success the libs now have to make this recall they found themselves in about anything and everything else.

@Bren -

Yep, you're right, Voter ID legislation has everything to do with ALEC and nothing to do with the FACT that polls have consistently shown that over 70% of the state supports such legislation.

Try again!

Voter Photo ID Legis.: On May 19, 2011, WI passed a "Voter ID" law introduced by GOP Rep. Jeff Stone and Sen. Joe Leibham. Stone an ALEC member who received ALEC travel reimbursements in 2009. The legislation would allow a narrow list of IDs for voting, including drivers licenses and state-issued ID cards. According to a UWM study, about 177k Wisconsinites aged 65 & older don't have state-issued IDs. Statewide, only 45% of African American males and 51% of females have a valid drivers license. WI DMV offices are not in every county and keep irregular hours, creating more barriers to voter participation. The bill makes it particularly burdensome for college students to vote, a group who overwhelmingly supported Obama in 2008. Student IDs have to be issued from an accredited public or private college, include a student's signature and have a 2yr exp date. The 182k students in the U of W system and 300k in state technical colleges currently do not meet this requirement.
After a statewide investigation in 2008, the GOP WI Attorney General found no evidence of voter fraud. The bill is an effort "to prevent democratic groupings from turning out and everybody knows it," according to Jay Heck of WI Common Cause. When the bill passed, Gov Walker tweeted "glad that Photo ID bill passed. I authored that bill 10 years ago!" back when he was an active ALEC member. The WI bill is a more detailed version of the ALEC "Voter ID Act" of 2009. ALEC provides the blue print for the Voter ID bill

►Collective bargaining is two sides sitting down and working out a deal◄

Funny I wasn't invited to the table as a tax payer ie employer of a public worker.
Union dealing with a union backing Gov really don't work out a deal. They work out how much we can get and how fast we can do it. You know it, the federal gov knows it, we all know it.

Steve, our elected officials are supposed to be our seat at the table. I think most of us, given the choice, would have been a bit more sensitive to the fact that public employees had just received furloughs under Gov. Doyle. But it's not "us" at the table, right now, is it? It's ALEC, the Koch brothers, and the most extreme of the far right.

They don't speak for me. And I speak for balance and a reasoned, measured approach to governance, not "dropping the bomb" on people with families and financial responsibilities.

Bren - you really need to drop the ALEC stuff all the time. It is not healthy.

HA!
We are at the table now, finally. Doyle's furlough days did nothing but scratch the union's back more. Proving he was in their pocket.

Oh what we learned after Walker took care of the public union abuses. How much we were getting screwed was a shock to many, including myself. I knew it was bad but this bad was insane.

Walker is a rockstar putting liberals like yourself in their place in a calm and professional manner. You guys are left sputtering on your saliva and all we can barely hear now is "koch" "alec" "CEOs" "but, but, but rich people, working families, womens right, unfair....... *sniffle*

@Bren -

Aren't public workers also represented just as equally as anyone else by their duly elected public officials/representatives? Ergo, the unionized public worker has vested interests on both sides of the negotiation table. There's an inherent conflict of interest, because public workers pay taxes and are able to vote just like the rest of us. And, in situations where the public officials/reps are closely aligned with the public sector unions, eg Falk, Barrett, the RUSD Board of Education, etc, the public workers enjoy a virtual tax and spend at will monopoly.

Not to mention that public sector unions are negotiating with the non-profit governmental entities funded and supported solely by forced revenue collection known as taxes. I thought we elected our public officials/reps to decide how we should be taxed and how to spend those collected revenues, not unions. Do you now see how the 'negotiations' were always more heavily sided towards the public worker and against the taxpayer in general and why Act 10 was the right thing to do?

In reality, public sector unionization never should have been allowed to occur in the first place because it is inherently unnecessary and just adds an additional layer of bureaucracy and costs to governmental services, which is against the best interests of society as a whole.

►Trayvon Martin's murderer will probably use for his defense◄

wonder why
http://abcnews.go.com/images/US/ht_george_zimmerman_head_dm_120419_wmain.jpg

The sky is falling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Walker is now setting the pay scale for private employees? We should really recall this evil tyrant that is ridiculous this man needs to be stopped at once.

NONE of what you say is based in fact. You run your mouth on lefty, loser emotion. Act 10 was a simple reform to control public employee costs. It will help bring in private sector jobs, many of which will be union jobs. Walker has done nothing to "making the jobs have no living wage". Where do you get this stuff from? The left has gotten so confused on why they don't like Walker that they no longer make ANY sense. Give it up and get to work.

Even major corporations are seeing it is toxic to stand with Walker!

Working America ‏ @WorkingAmerica

BREAKING: Yum! Brands (owner of Pizza Hut/Taco Bell/KFC) is the latest corp to drop #ALEC: http://j.mp/J9o7Sw #1u

@Greg -- The Budget Repair Bill had some other features that should make concerned Wisconsinites step back and take a closer look. For instance, changing some elected positions to Gubernatorial appointments and no-bid sales of state property at the Governor's discretion.

Scott Walker didn't have such a great track record with his appointments while County Executive.

@morninmist -

Your statement is flawed because Walker does not equate to ALEC. If Walker and ALEC are so simpatico, then please indulge us - how many direct and unmodified pieces of ALEC proposed legislation were signed into law by Governor Walker? I'll give you some help with this one and provide you with the answer - ZERO!!!

Stop spreading your propaganda LIES!!!

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/4/18/alec_drops_push_for_voter_id

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-13/why-are-mcdonalds-coca-cola-and-intuit-fleeing-alec

Thank you for sharing about Yum! brands, morninmist. ALEC is a toxic organization with a mission to manipulate or create laws that tip the democratic scale completely out of balance in favor of Big Business. The companies that have walked away have probably realized that their own profits would take a hit if the American middle class withers. The more people who recognize that Scott Walker is an ALEC puppet governor the better.

I prefer New York style pizza over Chicago. Less dough. Even when I lived in Chicago I never developed a taste for it.

Marguerite, have you read anything about all of the reasons for the recall? You seem to be taking a very topic-specific view and based your support on that alone. Does it not bother you that Scott Walker is a rubber stamper for a special interest group focused on improving corporate profits at the expense of American workers?

Have you asked this Alec out on a date yet? Man up pop the question you seem to have a huge crush on him.

@Bren -

I already provided the NEW and IMPROVED state license plate in the pictures above, complete with a custom tag - check it out! Notice how I made sure that the renewal stickers read FEB 2011 ;-)

It is inevitable that Walker will win this recall election, so have fun!

BTW - How many direct and unmodified pieces of ALEC proposed legislation did Walker sign into law since becoming Governor? Oh, that's right - ZERO! And how much of the taxpayer's money did Walker give away to the Koch Bros? Oh, that's right - ZERO! Your ALEC/Koch conspiracy is extremely weak when you consider the performance record to date, isn't it?

I would pay extra for that plate!

@Steve ® -

Your prior redesign of the state seal inspired Hoffa to exercise his creative side! While not overly modified, I find it to be simple, elegant, and enough to enrage Bren's side if they ever saw one on the back of car, preferably a Cadillac ;-)

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/07/10880/alec-bills-wisconsin

Wisconsin Omnibus Tort Act: One of Governor Walker's first actions upon taking office was to push a package of tort reform measures lifted from the ALEC playbook. TORT REFORM bills generally make it harder for Americans to sue companies whose products or services result in injury or death. Wisconsin Act 2 was the first bill Walker signed into law on January 27, 2011

@Walker -

I asked for examples of DIRECT and UNMODIFIED pieces of ALEC proposed legislation that Governor Walker signed into law. The fact is, you can't provide us with any because they simply do not exist. Whether or not certain bills are similar to ALEC proposed legislation is immaterial.

And if you and Bren are so enraged about ALEC coming up with proposed legislation, then how come I can't find a single post on all the Patch from either of you chastising the public sector unions for writing the pledge that Falk signed and that Barrett has now promised to adhere to?

HYPOCRITES!!!

Mr. Hoffa, I like your license plate! I had the amusing thought that, should Walker win the recall, adopt your license plate design, then end up in prison because of the John Doe investigation, perhaps he would actually help produce a few of those plates before a new design was created. (These things take time, you know!)

Concerning ALEC legislation, the entire point, as I believe has already been made here, is that legislators are supposed to modify them. There have been a few cases, most recently the ALEC rep from Florida District 55 (if memory serves) who simply turned in her ALEC corporate tax cut bill as it was, ALEC logo, mission statement and all. When this brought to her attention, she apparently "find-and-replaced" ALEC but left the rest of the bill as written.

I believe Scott Walker's "advisors" are a bit craftier.

Concerning the union pledge, how is that different from ALEC? A pledge to restore collective bargaining is not the same. Barrett and Falk have the intellectual heft to conceptualize their own legislation, without doubt.

You're capitalizing letters and still seem quite agitated Mr. Hoffa. There's still time to take my advice and spoon down a few calming tablespoons of castor oil! ; )

I see you didn't catch the sarcastic tone that was related to Jason's idiotic post.

@Steve -- Someone's looking idiotic, but I don't think it's me.

may want to re-read my post.

Clark - Those Walker clones are available at the factory. Just do not lose the windup key. They are selling at a deep discount right now.
Contact ALEC for more information.

Scooter's talking points are old and boring. But I am sure ALEC will send him a few new ones shortly.

❀Women Vote❀ ‏ @manuleletausala

nothing so annoying as listening to a #GOP zombie spew 'memorized talking points'. #NOW #alexwagner #thedingbatonurshow

People like him too. People that don't play into your hate filled lies mostly.

@molly -

Thanks for providing us with the same lefty propaganda/rhetoric/talking points that we've already heard time and again!

This is for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-820Ljv4ng

The fun part is the more time that passes the more of a nut job you sound. Walker is a rockstar and has backed all of you into a corner. Evidence? I read your post

People who support Walker are so misinformed.
FACT Wisconsin lost more jobs than any other state in the country thanks to Walker.
He cut almost $1 billion from education and there were record retirements of teachers. Wisconsin was ranked at the top of the country for education but now we will sink to the bottom with Alabama.

@molly -

You appear to be the ignorant and highly misinformed one. Actually, the FACT is that Wisconsin has experienced a net jobs increase since Walker took over, even Politifact recognizes this.

And I guess you missed the whole WEAC/DPI/Walker controversy wherein WEAC survey data was being hidden from the public because it showed that educational results were actually increasing under Walker's reforms, and not decreasing as you erroneously claim.

But hey, why ignore the real FACTS when you can just make up your own to suit your own political/ideological agenda, right?

Try again.

James Hoffa you are the one who is misinformed. But wait until the schools start to crumble and the classrooms are over crowded thanks to Walker and the Republicons. And the fact is that Wisconsin is ranked at the bottom of the country because of jobs lost under Walker. Check the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

@molly -

Those numbers show the following: WI private sector jobs up 15,600 since start of 2012; unemployment rate down to 6.8% (lowest its been since 2008).

Maybe that link that you're follownig from the Daily Kos isn't taking you to the real data after all?

You are misinformed, no YOU are misinformed!

So where are the crumbling schools and cattle barns full of students? Is the sky still falling, sure is taking a while for it to get down here.

You sure your not looking at an alphabetical list? Wisconsin starts with a "W" so it's usually at the bottom.
Unemployment:
Wisconsin
6.8%(p) in Feb 2012

Rhode Island
11.0%(p) in Feb 2012

Here is a fun one from 2009, guess you would rather go back to this?
►Jim Doyle said Thursday that the budget deficit has exploded to up to $6.5 billion - a historic gap he wants fixed by laying off up to 1,100 employees, furloughing non-emergency workers eight days a year, rescinding 2% pay raises and making new cuts in aid to schools and local governments.◄

molly
Walker hires crooks to do his bidding.

DefeatVos ‏ @DefeatVos
RT @WeRWisconsin: Top @GovWalker Crony Who Embezzled Vets' $ Also Misappropriated Half-Million in Taxpayer $ http://bit.ly/ITuJCr #WIunion

Walker is evil and stuff for saving jobs and CEOs make too much money and Alec is commanding all of this from a spaceship

The reality of "shared sacrifice" never hits the union thugs, who eagerly throw junior members under the wheels of the bus to maintain living large at the expense of their comrades.

Having to learn to do with less, like all the rest of America - just isn't possible in their eyes. Shared sacrifice - not in their lexicon...

Greed and ME FIRST! is the mantra of the Baby Boomers.

Illinois: Who will solve our problems?

Unions: You solve the problems.

Illinois: How should we solve our problems?

Unions: Give us more money!

@morninmist -

You mean Walker is having to campaign? Gee, I wonder why? Probably has nothing to do with the fact that your side has managed to convince the GAB to order a recall election, right?

And why does he need to campaign out-of-state? Hmmm... I suppose it has nothing to do with the fact that big labor groups from around the country are pouring money into the recall effort against him, right?

Get REAL for a change, will you!?!

@ Hoffa

Here is reality!

BTW--Those in the know --know that Walker brought it on himself. He has no one to blame except himself. He could have said no to ALEC and the Koch brothers and negotiated with Democrats but he did not. Instead he bragged about 'dropping the bomb"

I said over a year ago that Walker is just using Wisconsin and its people as a doormat for his national goals. You and TeaGOP are doormats.

We Are Wisconsin ‏ @WeRWisconsin

Walker's Economy Sheds Thousands More Jobs, While US Econ. Logs 25th Straight Month of Job Growth http://bit.ly/JQs9Ok #WIunion #Wirecall

James R Hoffa

2:36 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012

@morninmist -

You mean Walker is having to campaign? Gee, I wonder why? Probably has nothing to do with the fact that your side has managed to convince the GAB to order a recall election, right?
.....

Get REAL for a change, will you!?!

It's apparent that you use public employees as a pawn for political internet talking points. If you didn't Walker would be your hero for saving their jobs.

Let's not forget the transplants that the unions have brought in by the thousands. Paid for months to live here and "agitate"
This is their last stand, throwing in all their money and chips. If they loose this, which they will, it's over for decades.

►Walker brought it on himself◄

lol. Hoffa where is that kool aid video this guy drank the full batch.

Ol' Misty
Walker blames no one. Governor Walker was leagally elected by us and we want him to stay in office and continue his good work. That is reality.

There are quite a few states facing pension issues; Wisconsin, with a $0 liability state pension fund, was not one of them. But the ALEC agenda called for union stripping and they pull the strings, so their puppet governor Scott Walker "dropped the bomb" in February 2011.

The unions got greedy and stole from the tax payers, WEA trust. Then Walker dropped the bomb. Thank God for Governor Walker. Bren just keeps playing his one note ALEC song, pathetic.

Bren is out of ammo, I guess.

Bren still continues to deny reality - even when confronted with reality.

Illinois is so corrupt and broken that they are now trying to shift the cost of Teacher Pensions off the back of the State, and:

"Gov. Pat Quinn is among top Illinois Democrats who have spoken in favor of having local school districts pay teachers' pension costs

SPRINGFIELD — Some suburban school leaders say taking over the state's share of teacher retirement costs, a proposal gaining steam in the legislature, would result in them laying off teachers or trying to raise property taxes.

It remains largely unclear how — or if — any proposal to transfer the state's share of teachers' pension costs to local schools would work, and no formal proposal is on the table"

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120419/news/704199955/

Dishonest Democtrats call it cost-shifting; honest people would call it can-kicking, and one that will likely end in the final collapse of the teacher pensions. They are headed that way anyways.... so let's ignore reality and run it to the end....

People like Bren live for today, and today only. She can't see the future - and has no planning ability. She will always be dependent.

The $0 liability for the WI state pension is a good thing and definitely much better than many other states. However, one must understand that it is based on a 'model' and that model relies upon 'expected returns on investment' to claim 'fully funded' status. The model that Wisconsin follows requires the return on investment must be 7.8% every year, on average.

AG
You are a laugh.

Here is Walker: I have nothing to negotiate.

Negotiations really helped WEA Trust.

You're absolutely right. This intensity which democrats oppose this makes me realize they've been stealing elections all along.
I also think we need to ink fingers, so people can't vote twice or more, instead of those stupid "I Voted" stickers. End same day registration and make sure students don't use college id's and then request absentee ballots using their license or state id.
We will then have fair elections.

@morninmist -

1) San Francisco = liberal bias.

2) Even the article concludes that how one interprets the contrasting objective/subjective data is "all in the eye of the beholder," ergo, this proves absolutely nothing.

Once again, you're left without a cognizable point, but that seems to be your m.o.!

Try again!

Businesses are waiting until the moronic recall is concluded before hiring.

Greg , then maybe you can get a job for $10 's an hour.

@morninmist -

The funniest thing is your hypocrisy. We already know that your side would much rather see Walker in a foreign made non-union labor built Toyota Prius as opposed to an American union labor built SUV.

Yes, my friends, there is no true solidarity and brotherhood on morninmist's side - only hypocrisy and greed!

@Hoffa - Actually, just wait awhile and we will probably see Walker in a paddy wagon photo, then taking a walk, the perp walk, that is, and with his hands held involuntarily close together at the waist. Then we will have lots of cool media photos.

Illinois pols like Walker, in the mold of Blago before he went to the pen. Former Ill. Gov. Ryan now in pen also. Last 4 of 8 Illinois Govs convicted of felonies.

Well Hoffa--Your ASSumptions just make you silly. Only in your ideology does "We already know.." exist

Your sense of humor has got up and went.

.................

James R Hoffa

4:13 pm on Saturday, April 21, 2012

@morninmist -

The funniest thing is your hypocrisy. We already know that your side would much rather see Walker in a foreign made non-union labor built Toyota Prius as opposed to an American union labor built SUV.

Yes, my friends, there is no true solidarity and brotherhood on morninmist's side - only hypocrisy and greed!

hoffa says he drives a Caddy. Union-made, government bailout/buyout GM. Well, perhaps the Caddy was made pre-bailout, or maybe it is pre-1936, before the UAW came on the scene. Suggest a non-union but U.S. made Toyota Camry. Well, though, you have those damn Asians running that company, so maybe a U.S. non-union built BMW at their massive "screw the UAW" plant in S. Carolina, a state with a history, culture, and political bias hoffa probably likes a lot. That's it, BMW, and Teutonic people owning it.

@Ron -

You mess with Hoffa's Caddies, and your gonna get the horns son!

I uploaded a couple pics of my '96 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe (ETC), which was built with pride by the UAW in Hamtramck, Michigan, USA.

Parked next to your Toyota Corolla or morninmist's Prius, and Hoffa makes both Ron and morninmist look like they're playing in the kiddie pool!

Try again big fellas!